Sticky Rhubarb and Ginger Cake

Posted by on Apr 12, 2011 in Cakes and Desserts, Uncategorized | 2 comments

Well, this is not a Turkish recipe, but something I couldn’t resist to share. Living in England, I get to enjoy the wonderful English cakes and puddings, which I absolutely adore. And this rhubarb and ginger cake is no exception. I love the tartness of rhubarb and its combination with ginger and brown sugar is divine. Fresh rhubarb is widely available now in the UK and I hope, even if you can’t get the fresh version, you may get them frozen. This wonderful, moist cake is an adaptation from a Jamie Oliver recipe. I used a little...

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Vanilla Sponge Birthday Cake with Icing – Dogum Gunu Pastasi

Posted by on Feb 2, 2011 in Cakes and Desserts, Uncategorized | 0 comments

I love making cakes but I must admit, never really felt confident enough to make birthday cakes with the fancy icing – somehow I feared I could never be able deliver those amazingly decorated cakes with the children’s favorite characters. Until I saw the birthday cake recipe at Rose Prince’s brilliant cookery book, Kitchenella. I gave it a try to her Vanilla sponge and was inspired by her Smarties studded icing. The result was impressive and the birthday boy was very happy Indeed a love letter to your children, as Rose...

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Pistachio Nut and Sour Cherry Chocolate Brownie – Fistikli, Kuru Visneli Brownie

Posted by on Jan 27, 2011 in Cakes and Desserts, Uncategorized | 0 comments

We Turks love pistachios. Turkey produces some of the best pistachios in the world, around the Gaziantep region at the southeast part of Turkey, and they are absolutely to die for. We also love cherries and are lucky to produce wonderfully flavored fresh cherries at home. So when I saw this recipe on Food and Travel magazine, it was irresistible to try (I slightly changed it using a little less sugar and butter). And the outcome was wonderful too; delicious brownies bursting with fabulous cherry and pistachio flavors, a real treat. Serves...

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Demerara Lemon Cake

Posted by on Jan 16, 2011 in Cakes and Desserts, Uncategorized | 0 comments

I very much enjoy Nigel Slater’s recipes – wholesome and delicious, aiming to use the best possible produce at their peak and not doing much to it. And he has a thing for cakes like I do too. This Demerara Lemon Cake recipe is from his brilliant cookery book The Kitchen Diaries. I am a huge fan of lemon and the caramelized lemons over this cake won my heart at the first sight. The original recipe serves the cake as a dessert with a lemony syrup spiked to the top of it with a skewer, after it’s cooked. In my version, I took...

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Asure – Noah’s Dessert

Posted by on Dec 21, 2010 in Cakes and Desserts, Uncategorized | 2 comments

This dessert of grains, pulses and dried fruit, referred as Asure – Noah’s Dessert-, is most probably one of Turkey’s most famous dessert. According to legend, Noah made it on the ark by combining whatever ingredients were left on the ark. It is also the traditional dessert to serve on the 10th day of the Muslim month Muharrem, which we are at the moment. It is always made in large quantities and shared with friends and neighbors.Though the ingredients list is pretty rich, I believe whatever grains, pulses and dried fruit you...

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Giada’s Milanesi Cookies

Posted by on Dec 14, 2010 in Cakes and Desserts, Uncategorized | 4 comments

My good friend Giada is from the Italian part of Switzerland, and used to bake these wonderful cookies around Christmas time to share with us all when we lived in Austin. We loved getting them and always looked forward to it; delicately flavoured, yummy cookies, just a wonderful thing to celebrate and share. She very kindly shared the recipe and me and my daughter had a go making them. They are lots of fun and easy to make as family, and putting a little edible glitter on adds an extra sparkle and magic Preparation time: 25 minutes Cooking...

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Chocolate and Almond Torte – Cikolatali, Bademli Islak Kek

Posted by on Nov 17, 2010 in Cakes and Desserts, Uncategorized | 0 comments

I can’t resist anything with almonds in it – and chocolate is a huge bonus too . We eat almonds in abundance in Turkey, where some of the best almonds come from. They are packed with flavour and have great health benefits; full of fibre and antioxidants, one of the most nutritious of all nuts. Make sure to include almonds in your diet for a healthier life style. This lovely moist torte is an absolute winner; it keeps very moist inside, a real treat for everyone. It is rich and even a little slice is enough to brighten the day. I like...

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Winter Pumpkin Dessert, Turkish Style – Kabak Tatlisi

Posted by on Nov 3, 2010 in Cakes and Desserts, Uncategorized | 3 comments

Luscious bright orange pumpkin prepared this way warms up any winter evening. In Turkey, the seeds of the pumpkin are never discarded but oven roasted with salt to nibble on thru winter months, very delicious, nutritious and a huge Anatolian pastime! This lovely light dessert is wonderful served with crushed walnuts. If you can get clotted cream, it accompanies Kabak Tatlisi wonderfully. Serves 6Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 40 minutes 1 kg/2 ¼ pumpkin, peeled and deseeded450 gr/1 lb sugar8 lf oz / 1 cup waterJuice of 1...

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Banana and Almond Cake – Muzlu, Bademli Kek

Posted by on Oct 13, 2010 in Cakes and Desserts, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Another wonderful recipe from Kitchenella, great as a treat with coffee and tea. Almonds are native to Turkey and we grow some of the best almonds in the world. They are in abundance at home, we make milky puddings, cakes with them as well as using them in pilaffs and casseroles. I was delighted to find this recipe; it has no flour, very moist and very nutritious with almonds and bananas. 120 gr/4 oz butter, plus extra for greasing 120 gr/4 oz dark muscovado sugar120 gr/4 oz golden syrup5 ml/1 heaped teaspoon cinnamon3 medium-ripe bananas,...

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Cevizli Kurabiye – Cookies with Walnuts

Posted by on Sep 10, 2010 in Cakes and Desserts, Uncategorized | 0 comments

My friend Tina baked some wonderful cookies with pecans – she is from Louisiana, and that was her mother’s recipe. As soon as I tasted, these wonderful cookies took me back to my childhood, as my mother used to bake a very similar version using walnuts. It is amazing to see the similarities we share wherever we are in the world, a very nice feeling, and makes the world feel smaller! These cookies are very easy make, get ready in no time and they melt in the mouth. It is the end of Ramadan at the moment and we celebrate this...

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